Remaining between the cracks: The long-term effect of different suicide risk exclusion criterion on outcomes of an online intervention for depression

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that excluding individuals at risk of suicide from online depression interventions can impact recruited sample characteristics. Aim: To determine if a small change in suicide risk exclusion criterion led to differences in the usage and effectiveness of an Internet depression intervention at 6 months of follow-up. Method: A partial sample of a recently completed online […]

The role of alcohol use in pesticide suicide and self‑harm: A scoping review

Purpose: Suicide and self-harm by pesticide self-poisoning is common in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Alcohol is an important risk factor for self-harm; however, little is known about its role in pesticide self-poisoning. This scoping review explores the role that alcohol plays in pesticide self-harm and suicide. Methods: The review followed the Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review […]

Suicide classification–clues and their use: A study of 122 cases of suicide and undetermined manner of death

In order to identify clues to forensic pathologist’s classification of suicide, the forensic files of 100 consecutive cases of suicide, and 22 cases of undetermined manner of death, were analysed. Some specific causes of death, suicidal communication and other circumstantial evidence suggesting suicidal intent explained all but three classifications. Problematic cases concerned death by poisoning […]

Understanding people’s experiences of the formal health and social care system for co-occurring heavy alcohol use and depression through the lens of relational autonomy: A qualitative study

Background and aims: Heavy alcohol use and depression commonly co-occur. However, health and social care services rarely provide coordinated support for these conditions. Using relational autonomy, which recognizes how social and economic contexts and relational support alter people’s capacity for agency, this study aimed to (1) explore how people experience formal care provision for co-occurring alcohol […]

How does active substance use at psychiatric admission impact suicide risk and hospital length of stay?

Background/Objective: Despite their high prevalence, little is known about the effects of substance use disorders (SUD) and active substance use on the suicide risk or length of stay (LOS) of psychiatric inpatients. This study examines the relationship between active substance use at the time of psychiatric hospitalization and changes in suicide risk measures and LOS. […]

Symptoms of alcohol dependence predict suicide ideation among Alaskan undergraduates

Background: Previous research has demonstrated an association between alcohol-related problems and suicidal ideation (SI). Aims: The present study evaluated, simultaneously, alcohol consequences and symptoms of alcohol dependence as predictors of SI after adjusting for depressive symptoms and alcohol consumption. Method: A sample of 298 Alaskan undergraduates completed survey measures, including the Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire, the Short […]

Alcohol and repeated deliberate self-harm: Preliminary results of the French cohort study of risk for repeated incomplete suicides

Background: Repeated episode(s) of deliberate self-harm (RDSH) is a major risk factor for suicide. Aims: To identify specific risk factors for RDSH among patients admitted following an episode of deliberate self-harm (DSH) through acute intoxication. Methods: A prospective 6-month study was conducted with 184 patients (71% female) admitted to the emergency room (ER) as a result of self-poisoning […]

Body investment, depression, and alcohol use as risk factors for suicide proneness in college students

This study examined the relationships among three risk factors – body investment, depression, and alcohol use – and suicide proneness as measured by the Life Attitudes Schedule – Short Form (LAS-SF) in college students (n = 318). Path analysis was used to construct a causal model of suicide proneness. The Body Investment Scale (BIS) subscales […]

Emergency department presentations with suicide and self-harm ideation: A missed opportunity for intervention?

Aims: Suicidal ideation constitutes a central element of most theories of suicide and is the defining facet separating suicide from other causes of death such as accidents. However, despite a high worldwide prevalence, most research has focused on suicidal behaviours, such as completed suicide and suicide attempts, while the greater proportion who experienced ideation, which […]

Association between acute alcohol use and firearm-involved suicide in the United States

Objective  To evaluate the association between the amount of alcohol consumed and the probability of using a firearm as the method of suicide. Design, Setting, and Participants  This cross-sectional study used mortality data from the US National Violent Death Reporting System on suicide decedents aged 18 years or older with a positive blood alcohol concentration (BAC; ie, […]

Association between acute alcohol use and firearm-involved suicide in the United States

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the association between the amount of alcohol consumed and the probability of using a firearm as the method of suicide. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This cross-sectional study used mortality data from the US National Violent Death Reporting System on suicide decedents aged 18 years or older with a positive blood alcohol concentration  […]

Suicidal ideation among Lebanese adolescents: Scale validation, prevalence and correlates

Background In addition to the unstable political situation, Lebanon had experienced a cycle of wars, local armed conflicts, terrorist attacks, and crises (lack of clean water, recurrent power failure, and waste mismanagement, in addition to the growing number of unemployed people, as the number of Syrian refugees has dramatically increased, and led to competition for […]

Geography, rurality, and community distress: deaths due to suicide, alcohol‑use, and drug‑use among Colorado Veterans

Background: In the USA, deaths due to suicide, alcohol, or drug-related causes (e.g., alcohol-related liver disease, overdose) have doubled since 2002. Veterans appear disproportionately impacted by growing trends. Limited research has been conducted regarding the relationship between community-level factors (e.g., rurality, community distress resulting from economic conditions) and the presence of spatial clustering of suicide, alcohol-related, […]

Are we undercounting the true burden of mortality related to suicide, alcohol use, or drug use? An analysis using death certificate data from Colorado veterans

Knowledge regarding deaths due to suicide or alcohol- or drug-related causes may be limited by inconsistent and/or restrictive case definitions, resulting in concerns regarding validity of findings and underestimates of burden. In this proof-of-concept study, we assessed varying case definitions (suicide, alcohol-related, and drug-related mortality using underlying-cause-of-death (UCOD) versus multiple-cause-of-death (MCOD) International Classification of Diseases, Tenth […]

Epidemiology of suicide in the Tri‑City metropolitan area in Poland in 2010–2019

The paper, which is a continuation of our previous epidemiological studies on the phenomenon of suicide in the Tri-City metropolitan area, presents the results of statistical analyses of suicides in the autopsy material of the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Medical University of Gdańsk in the years 2010–2019. The purpose of the study was […]

Alcohol use and its association with suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts and non-suicidal self-harm in two successive, nationally representative English household samples

Background: Alcohol use is a risk factor for suicidal behaviour, yet the nature of the relationship is unclear. Most research on the topic is conducted in clinical populations, with few studies exploring this association across the general population. Aims: We investigated the association between specific domains of alcohol use and suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts and […]

Suicide attempts: How does the acute use of alcohol affect suicide intent?

Background Very few studies have specifically addressed the role of the acute use of alcohol (AUA) in suicide attempts. Objective Our study compared the suicide intent scores of self-poisoning patients with and without AUA in order to examine the role of alcohol in attempted suicides. Methods We recruited 516 patients admitted to the emergency department […]

Roles of alcohol use disorder and resilience in risk of suicide attempt in men: A Swedish population-based cohort

Introduction Alcohol use disorder (AUD) has been identified as a strong risk factor for suicide attempt. However, few studies have considered protective factors that may moderate this association, such as resilience. Methods We used longitudinal nationwide Swedish data of 903,333 males born 1960–1980 and 48,285 males born 1949–1951. We performed Cox proportional hazards models to test the […]

Alcohol use and death by suicide: A meta-analysis of 33 studies

Introduction Decades of research show an association between alcohol use and death by suicide. However, findings on the temporal link between alcohol use and death by suicide are unclear. In the most comprehensive meta-analysis on the topic to date, we analyzed data from longitudinal studies to determine if alcohol use is a risk for death […]

Years of life lost due to the psychosocial consequences of COVID-19 mitigation strategies based on Swiss data

Background. The pandemic caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has forced governments to implement strict social mitigation strategies to reduce the morbidity and mortality from acute infections. These strategies, however, carry a significant risk for mental health, which can lead to increased short-term and long-term mortality and is currently not included in modeling the impact […]

Analgesic effect of alcohol mediates the association between alcohol intoxication and deliberate self-harm

We examined whether the analgesic effect of alcohol mediates the association between alcohol and deliberate self-harm (DSH) using data from a larger study on alcohol effects. Men (n = 106) and women (n = 104) low-risk alcohol drinkers (ages M = 26.00, SD = 6.98) recruited from the community who had no suicide attempt or episode of deliberate self-harm within the past year were randomly […]

Epidemiology and clinical-demographic characteristics of suicide attempts in alcohol use

Suicide is a leading cause of morbidity worldwide. Among the known risk factors, alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are particularly relevant, but data on the epidemiology and characteristics of suicide attempts (SA) in this group are lacking. We used electronic health records of national health services to identify individuals who received a diagnosis of AUD in […]

Growing alcohol use preceding death by suicide among women compared with men: age-specific temporal trends, 2003–18

Background and aims In the United States, until 2018 both the prevalence of heavy alcohol use and the suicide mortality rate increased among men and women; however, women had experienced a notably higher increase in both. As heavy alcohol use may have contributed to the observed sex disparity in the suicide mortality rate increase, the […]